Monday, July 9, 2012

In October 2010, I launched the Upbeat Dad blog simply for
the purpose of empowering dads to become actively engaged in the lives of their
children. I didn’t quite know what the response would have been but I just had
an overwhelming desire to help others through this medium. If even one person
would stand to benefit from this work, then to me, it would be worth it.

Today, over 20 months later, I have written 214 blog posts. We
have well over 200,000 hits on the site, with readers on every continent except
Antarctica – not sure if they have internet there anyway! I’ve had the
privilege of having positive exchanges with members of our audience from all
over the world through the blog, our Facebook page and on our Twitter feeds. I
have had several interviews with different media sources including the BBC. We
have had two Upbeat Dad Community Forums to date. I have spoken at different
conferences including the Head Start in Miami and The Divorce Expo in
Detroit. So it’s been an eventful almost two years!

As the vision has unfolded, I have come to the realization
that the Upbeat Dad concept is more about a cause than anything. In its true essence,
it’s a positive force for change. The underlying theme that’s been echoed by
others with whom I’ve interacted as I’ve carried out this work is that the message
is so needed. So with that, I have sought to put in place an infrastructure to
address many of the issues that have been identified.

All of this has led to the forming in late 2011 of the
Upbeat Dad Organization, Inc., a non-profit corporation whose mission is to
empower fathers and to support families. As this phase of the vision is
unfolding, I am realizing more and more how much work there is to do. Well,
maybe I shouldn’t call it work – it’s more fun than anything. But the
possibilities of what might be accomplished are endless. It’s all for the
purpose of helping dads to play their part in the raising of their children.

Some men become fathers but don’t quite know how to be dads.
The term father is a term of biology.
But dad is a term of endearment. Then
there are men who deeply desire to be involved in the lives of their children
but because of various obstacles that dominate the family law system, their
efforts seem futile. There are so many issues that are prevalent when it comes
to the matter of fatherhood. So we have developed a systematic approach to
address many of these issues. There is certainly no “one size fits all” solution
to these issues. So step by step we are tackling the problems that we’ve
identified.

I haven’t written quite as many blog posts recently. I do
plan to get back to writing more frequently, ideally at least one or two per
week. I recognize the importance of these posts, as I believe they give practical
solutions to the different issues that men deal with. But behind the scenes,
there’s quite a bit of work being done. Let’s just say that the blueprint for a
masterpiece is being assembled. And it’s my opinion that that masterpiece will
be for your benefit.

I believe that the cause for which the organization has been
formed is great. In the coming weeks, months and years, you’ll begin to see the
vision unfold to a greater extent than it has to this point. We have formed
strategic alliances with various organizations including the Miami Dolphins. We
will have more public events – ones that will function as the ground war in a
military operation. We have engaged the services of a team of consultants whose
responsibility is to help us develop certain modules to effect change in
different parts of our society, including the corporate arena, the educational
system, the prison system, the political system, the legal system and more.

The purpose of this post is to really affirm our commitment
to practicing what we’ve preached since we launched this site almost two years
ago. I hope that you have a glimpse of where we are going with this. I often
say that it’s the cause of a lifetime. Having been through a divorce and now
having the privilege of raising a new family, along with my daughter from my
first marriage, I know just how fortunate and blessed I am. So I seek to
empower others to take the “upbeat” approach and do the right thing for their
kids.

I think that we’re embarking on an exciting phase of the
vision. So do stay engaged with us. And share any of our posts with others who
you think will benefit from what we seek to share. More than anything, I
believe that children will have more a promising future when their dads are
actively involved in their development. So the purpose behind all that we do
will be to help these dads to have that positive impact.